New Year, New Beginnings
by Miss BTW
Summary: The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are. It's two years since Joey left and Charlie decides it's time to broaden her horizons. CJ fic.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

New Life

The "fasten your seat belt" sign blinked on as Charlie clipped the seat belt in place and pulled it tight. 'My god', she thought, 'I'm actually leaving'.

"Get a grip, Charlie", she said to herself, taking a deep breath, as she realised her hands were gripping the arm rests so tightly, her knuckles were turning white. She needed to gain control of her emotions and not think of everything that she was leaving behind, both the good and the bad.

Ruby was the one that had eventually convinced her that this was the right thing to do, to get away from Summer Bay and all the drama that was her life for the past two years. Two rollercoaster years, almost to the day, since Joey had sailed way and, as it turned out, left her for good.

'No', she thought to herself, 'I'm not thinking about Joey, not today'. She really didn't want to think about Joey, not on the day she was starting her new life. She lent forward and grabbed the somewhat travel-worn inflight magazine, hoping that this could perhaps distract her thoughts away from Joey. Even though two years had passed and, let's face it, so much had happened, holding Joey in her arms really was the last time she had been truly happy.

She flicked through the pages looking for the inflight entertainment guide, quickly skipping past an article on the latest fashion craze, crocheting your own beanie, when the slightly muffled sound of the fight attendant announced they were about to depart. Charlie closed the magazine for a moment to take one last look out of the window. A tear ran down her face but, at the same time, she smiled thinking of the one person she was going to sorely miss, Ruby.

"Don't worry Charlie", she had said, smiling at her mum in the airport departure lounge "you'll love it in London and I'll be fine, just remember I love you and it's only for a year after all".

***

At almost exactly the same time, Joey shivered slightly as she took off her coat and hung it over the back of the chair at what was now her favourite place to hang out. It served really good and, more importantly, cheap coffee. Even though this was her second winter here, she most definitely had not got used to this extremely cold and damp weather.

"Same as usual today darling?", the petite blonde and attractive waitress asked.

"Yes please Anne", Joey blushed as she smiled back at the flirtatious waitress. "But can I also get an apple danish to go with the coffee?"

"Of course you can hun", Anne winked at Joey and headed back to the counter to get her order.

Joey looked for a moment at the departing waitress, thinking how much she'd changed in the time that Joey had been coming in. From being shy and slightly withdrawn to chatty and flirtatious, Joey wondered for a moment what her story was.

As Joey settled into her chair, she got her books and notepad out of her bag with every intention of getting on with some studying. She was doing a business management course part-time at Greenwich University, hoping one day to run her own fishing business back in Australia, taking tourists out for the day, or longer if they wanted to try deep sea fishing. She had come here to get away from Summer Bay and Charlie, to try and forget about her broken heart. At first, she hadn't had a plan, she'd just need to escape. After three months on a fishing trawler, she couldn't face going back to Summer Bay so she'd used all her money to buy a ticket to London. She'd quickly got lucky finding a job working nights in a bar, spending her days just existing. But after six months, enough was enough and she decided that she needed to stop thinking about Charlie and start thinking about her future. That's how she'd ended up signing up for a general course on how to run her own business. It was a start and in the last few months she had even begun to believe she could be happy again. Yes, now and again she lapsed and would find herself thinking about Charlie…kissing Charlie…touching Charlie…but fortunately these lapses were happening less and less as she reminded herself that Charlie was thousands of miles away and most definitely not part of her future.

"Enjoy", Anne said as delivered her coffee and danish. Joey smiled at the waitress, grateful that she had snapped her from her Charlie thoughts.

"Thanks", Joey replied before going back to her books, determined to get on with her course work this afternoon.

***

Charlie had been on the flight for six long hours, she had watched two films, eaten one salad and gotten up four times for the rather irritating man sat next to her who she wished would get his 'pee-ness' under control. He had tried talking and flirting with her about an hour into the flight but, after her effortless indifference to his attempts to strike up a conversation, had given up and started to make the most of the complimentary drinks.

She settled back in her seat, closing her eyes hoping to sleep for a while. Five minutes later, she sighed deeply, sleep was not coming easily as her mind kept whirling. 'Why exactly was she going to London?'

Charlie remembered sitting at her desk in Summer Bay, finishing up the paperwork on a case of petty theft when her phone rang. The call had been from her chief inspector with the chance of a job swap with a police sergeant from the UK, a chance to learn different ways of doing things. At first she wasn't sure if she wanted to go, particularly leaving Ruby for a year especially after everything they had been through together, but she agreed to at least think about it.

Ruby had completely surprised her when she said what a great opportunity it was and that Charlie should go. If truth be told, Charlie had been a little hurt that Ruby had seemed so keen for her to leave. But after Ruby told her why it could be a good thing, she actually started to seriously consider it. Ruby had said it was obvious she was not happy and hadn't been since Joey left, despite trying to move on with her life and the not brief enough, disastrous rebound relationship with Angelo. Ruby had gone on to say a change of life and location, even for a year, might finally help her get over Joey. Her daughter had told Charlie she'd miss her desperately but was old enough to look after herself, with a little help from Irene, and more than anything else wanted Charlie to be herself again and find happiness.

The following day she had accepted the job. That was four weeks ago.

***

Joey paid Anne for the three cups of coffee, making a point of telling her what a tasty treat the danish had been, giving her a much needed sugar boost to help her finish her studying that afternoon. She left a small tip for her favourite waitress.

"Thanks and see you again soon darlin'", she smiled as Joey left. Anne watched Joey leave, wondering for a moment what her story was.

Looking at her watch, she began to hurry as she was due at work in an hour. Nikki, the owner of the bar she worked in, would not be happy if she was late for work again. As Joey hastily made her way home to get ready for work, Charlie finally fell asleep on the plane.


	2. Chapter 2

_Editor's note: _

_Miss BTW was totally blown away by your reviews of Chapter 1. Thank you all so much for taking the time to post feedback. This is the first piece of fanfic that Miss BTW has written so all your advice and support is really appreciated. A special mention must go to our very own apple danish, Henriette76, for encouraging Miss BTW to "give it a go" and commit pen to paper in the first place._

_Although this is most definitely a CJ fic, Miss BTW would like to point out that she has borrowed a couple of characters from Shed Productions and no copyright infringement intended._

_Bimboinhales_

Chapter 2

**Day by day**

As Charlie waited for the kettle to boil, she rubbed her eyes and yawned. Boy, she was tired. Four hectic weeks had certainly taken their toll. From the minute she had landed at Heathrow, fighting her way through Passport Control, Immigration and Customs, to standing here in her new home, she'd done nothing but rush from one place to another, feeling out of control most of the time - something she was definitely not used to. She'd met so many new people and could only remember half their names. The unit she was working for seemed to have almost as many people as the whole of Summer Bay. But in the job she was doing, she felt more comfortable. The UK police force had a lot of similarities to the Australian one, including the command structure. She had spent all of her evenings so far going over rules, arrest procedures, crime report formats, computer records structure and so on. Charlie was determined to get up to speed as fast as possible.

Her private life was a mess and she sucked at relationships, but if there was one thing in her life she knew how to do well, it was being a police officer.

Charlie chuckled to herself, remembering her first trip out of the apartment. She'd been desperate for a decent coffee and although the Pomms weren't exactly known for being big coffee drinkers, she'd thought that this being London, surely there must be somewhere nearby she could get a skinny latte. With confidence, she'd headed off without a map of the area; after all she wasn't expecting to go far. It had taken her only twenty minutes to find a place and it was worth it - the coffee was very good. It was a small shop and the waitress, whose name tag announced her as Anne, smiled warmly when she delivered the coffee to the small table by the window Charlie had chosen to sit at. Two lattes later and feeling far more relaxed, she'd headed out again. But as soon as she'd set foot on the street, she'd felt completely disoriented. She'd wandered around for well over an hour getting hopelessly lost in the maze of London's winding streets and tall buildings. Fortunately, she had her new address memorised, so in the end she swallowed her pride and asked for directions. Thirty minutes later, she'd finally made it home again. That was on her second day. Since then she had managed to make two successful trips to and from the coffee shop for those much needed caffeine injections.

The sound of the kettle boiling jolted her back to the present. She switched it off and poured hot water into the plain white cup that came with the small, but practical, apartment that was to be her home for the next eleven months.

Charlie picked up the cup of instant coffee, thinking how urgently she needed to purchase a coffee machine, and made her way into the living room, kicking her shoes off en route. Settling into the comfy sofa, she put her cup on the glass-topped coffee table, grabbing the TV remote to see if there was anything worth watching while she relaxed for a while.

***

"Can I have two pints of Stella and vodka and coke please?" an attractive, smartly dressed woman, who Joey guessed must be in her early thirties, asked.

"Ice and lemon with the vodka and coke?" Joey shouted back to ensure she was heard over the loud music currently playing in the bar.

"Just ice, thanks," the woman replied then turned away to continue chatting with her friends.

As Joey poured the drinks, she looked around the small bar. Far more crowded than the usual week nights, but it was to be expected. It was Thursday night, officially known as 'Girls' Club Night' and although it was usually a mixed gay bar, tonight the boys were banned. It was Joey's favourite shift to work and tonight was going to be even more interesting than normal as, for the first half of the evening, the bar was holding its first ever speed dating event. 'This is going to be fun,' Joey thought.

Joey put the final drink in front of the woman, noting she already had a sticker on her jacket stating her name was Eve, quite obviously indicating that she had signed up for the night's main event and it looked like she had brought along a couple of friends for support. Joey took the money for the drinks, thanking her customer when she'd said to keep the change. 'This could also turn out to be a very profitable night,' Joey thought, smiling to herself. She quickly added the change to the rapidly filling tip jar.

With no one else needing a drink, Joey took a moment to tidy the bar, putting the empties into the glass washer and restocking some of the shelves.

"Evening Joey, how's business been so far tonight?"

Joey turned around at the sound of a familiar voice. It was Nikki, the owner of the bar.

"Really good," Joey replied smiling at her boss. "You've managed to catch me at the only quiet time so far tonight, just thought I would try and refill some of the stock before the next rush is on."

"Great, Jamie is due in anytime now so take your break when she's here. I'm just off to the office to catch up on some paperwork. If you need any help, just give me a shout. Oh and if you see Helen come in, can you let her know where I am?" Nikki asked.

"Sure," Joey replied. Helen, Nikki's warm, friendly (and very gorgeous!) girlfriend, often came into the bar after she had finished work. Nikki was very different from Helen. All tall, dark and serious and, if Joey was honest, a little scary when she'd first met her at the job interview. But since then Joey had got to know her a little better and realised that it was mostly a front. Helen definitely brought the best out in her - Nikki always lit up whenever she was around.

A couple more customers walked up to the bar, so Joey got back to work.

***

Switching off the TV and throwing the remote onto the couch, Charlie groaned out loud. The coffee had done its job and revived her, but now she was bored. Her new work colleague had invited her for a drink after work and she was beginning to regret saying no. Since she'd been in London, she really had done nothing but work. The only contact she'd had with anyone outside was e-mails and Skype conversations with Rubes, who she missed terribly. And, as always, when left with nothing to keep her occupied, her thoughts drifted back to her Joey and that was so not helping her. Making her mind up quickly, she grabbed her mobile and dialled her colleague's number to see if that drink was still an option.

***

"Joey, looking gorgeous as ever, how are you tonight?" Helen said, winking at Joey.

"Hi Helen, life is good this evening, how are you?" Joey responded with a smile, she really liked Helen.

"Not so bad, thanks. Now have you managed to get yourself a girlfriend yet?"

"Noooo…and I am not looking for one either, as you very well know," Joey said enjoying jesting with Helen, who asked exactly the same question every time they met.

"Nikki is in her office, by the way"

"Well I will be off then to see my lovely wife," and with that Helen started to head towards Nikki's office, saying over her shoulder, "but don't think for one minute, Joey, that I am going to stop until I see you living a little. You know the best way to heal a broken heart is to find yourself a hot woman who'll make you forget all about it!"

With that Helen disappeared before Joey had a chance to reply. Joey frowned a little thinking about what Helen had said, Helen knew all about why she was in London and perhaps she was right, maybe she should try to move on. After all, she was in a bar full of single women. But she still couldn't quite make herself take that step. Charlie was still part of her and part of her heart even if it was never going to be a happy ending.

***

"Hiya babes," Helen said as she entered Nikki's office, "what has my gorgeous wife been up to today?"

"Nothing but waiting for you, as always, my darling," Nikki replied as she walked up to greet Helen properly.

"And what mischief have you been up to today?" Nikki asked as she reached to tuck a few errant strands of hair behind Helen's ear.

"Nothing too exciting," Helen said as she wrapped her arms around Nikki, leaning up to kiss her.

A few minutes later, Nikki groaned as she enjoyed the sensation of Helen's nails gently stroking their way down her back, Helen's hands having found their way under her shirt moments earlier. Helen's lips left Nikki's mouth, kissing their way along her jawline and just as they started to brush their way down Nikki's neck, the loud shrill of Helen's work mobile rudely interrupted the moment.

"Grrrrr," was Nicky's heartfelt comment on the untimely interruption.

"Sorry babe," Helen apologised as she removed her hands from under Nikki's shirt and pulled her phone from her jacket pocket.

Helen looked at the screen to see who was calling, and surprised by the caller ID, she put the phone to her ear.

"Hiya Charlie," Nikki heard Helen say into the phone.

***

Thirty minutes later, Charlie had showered and changed. She tied her hair back loosely, not really having the time to dry in properly, but it was not as if she was on a date, was it. Looking in the mirror, she decided that she looked okay in the black jeans but wasn't sure about the top. She tugged at the very tight white vest top she was wearing, her dilemma being that perhaps it highlighted two of her better assets a little too well. But after pulling it up a little to hide some of her cleavage and loosely knotting a blue scarf around her neck, both for warmth and modesty, she decided she passed inspection. After calling a taxi, she put on her tan leather bomber jacket and matching boots to finish the outfit. Grabbing her wallet, keys and a pair of gloves, she was ready to go.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hi, I just wanted to thank you all so much for your extremely kind and positive reviews. I was amazed that anyone had read the first, let alone, stuck with me for the second chapter! I hope this one doesn't disappoint. _

_Thank you again. _

_Miss BTW x._

Chapter 3

**Close Encounters**

"Charlie?" A puzzled looking Nikki asked as Helen finished her phone call. "So who is this person and why have you just agreed to meet them for a drink, or more to the point, what are you up to Helen?"

Nikki recognised the familiar and very mischievous glint in Helen's eyes. "Well, Charlie is the Australian woman who is over in the UK for a year on a job swap. She has been working with me on and off for the past few weeks and I asked her if she wanted to come along for a drink tonight but she turned me down," Helen explained.

Nikki's raised eyebrow clearly told Helen that she had not yet provided sufficient information so she continued. "Since she has been in the UK, Charlie has been all serious, very professional and shares absolutely nothing about her private life with anyone. And given she is, what anyone with a pair of eyes and a pulse would agree, a very attractive woman, I found it quite puzzling that she has been completely oblivious to the dozen or so male officers that have taken turns in throwing themselves at her in the last few weeks," Helen said, pausing for breath.

"So jealous would be an appropriate reaction right now then?" Nikki questioned, crossing her arms, and hitching her eyebrow even further. However, the twinkle in her eye let Helen know she was not really serious.

"Jealous is always the correct response," Helen joked. "However, in this case you don't need to worry gorgeous. I do, however, suspect my new and somewhat mysterious colleague may well not be interested in men at all, even if she is not ready to admit it yet."

"Helen!" Nikki sounded exasperated. "I hope you're not meddling again. Does she know about us, and that you have just invited her to a gay bar?" Nikki's tone told Helen that she was not at all convinced she was doing the right thing by inviting Charlie here.

"Er...no!" Helen smiled sweetly at Nikki. When would Nikki learn, when it came to knowing these things, Helen was always right.

***

Bending over, Joey finally put the last of the beer glasses in the washer. "Nice view!" Joey heard a lecherous voice say.

"Jamie!" Joey tried to sound annoyed but failed miserably. "You do know you're late again don't you?" Placing her hand on her hips, Joey tried her best to look stern.

Jamie put her hands up in defence as a cheeky smirk came to her lips. "Don't be mad Jo, I'm sorry." And with that Jamie scooped Joey up into a hug before Joey had a chance to react. "Jamieeee!" Joey admonished. "Put me down, right now."

"Not until you say you're not mad at me," Jamie declared with mock seriousness. "Okay, okay, I'm not mad at you, now will you please put me down?" With that, Jamie unceremoniously dumped Joey back down, but not before taking the opportunity to plant a big wet kiss that made a loud smacking sound on Joey's cheek before finally letting go. "See, I know you love me really," Jamie cheekily smirked, revelling in her victory.

"You are incorrigible," Joey laughed, slapping Jamie's arm then making a show of wiping her cheek where Jamie had kissed her. "Now you can do all the work while I'm on my break." With that Joey headed off.

***

Charlie stepped out of the cab, frowning as she looked around. She couldn't see a pub or bar anywhere in sight, surely it couldn't be hard to find. She was right by the River Thames so only had one side of the street to search. She knew the location was correct because the cab driver had dropped her right by the street name Helen said the bar was near.

Crossing to the riverside to get a better look along the road, Charlie noticed two boat masts wrapped from top to bottom with multicoloured lights. Looking over the railings she spotted a boat with a large sign on the side 'The Shed Bar.' What an odd name, she thought.

Taking a closer look at the venue, Charlie decided it looked beautiful, all lit up with the lights reflecting on the surface of the water. Joey's beautiful face immediately flashed into her mind. 'She would absolutely love this,' she smiled to herself. It was not small either. It had a large open air deck, which must be great in the summer, if there is such a thing in the UK, she mused as she shivered, the cold breeze from the river starting to chill her. Charlie deduced that the bar itself was below the open deck, she could see the lights through the frosted windows, and movement. It looked busy.

Charlie took a deep breath then headed down to the nearby pier and walked towards the boat. She found the fixed gang plank and walked across it to what looked like the entrance. Pausing for just a moment to steady her nerves, she pulled the door open and walked in.

Charlie enjoyed the rush of warm air as she entered the bar. The general hum of lively talking and background music hit her as fast as the warm air. Taking a proper look around, hoping to spot Helen, Charlie was shocked. The first thing her eyes landed on were what seemed to be two women literally glued together near the bar in what appeared to be a heavy make out session. Her eyes rapidly darted around the rest of the bar quickly coming to the realisation that every person in the place was female and the couple at the bar were not the only ones enjoying themselves.

Charlie felt heat rush to her cheeks, turning them instantly pink. She immediately turned and hurried straight back out of the door she had just come through. Feeling slightly less panicked on the other side of the door, Charlie took a gulp of air and paced up and down the narrow walkway on the side of the boat, not quite believing that she'd reacted so strongly to being in a lesbian bar. Calming down a little, she now noticed the rather large and obvious rainbow flag proudly waving from the boats flag pole. How had she managed to miss that? 'Charlie Buckton,' she said out loud, 'you're a grown up, why should you be scared of a bar full of lesbians?'

With that she steeled herself, went back inside and without hesitation marched straight up to the bar to ask for Helen.

***

Joey headed downstairs to the quiet part of the bar located on the lower deck, and headed through a narrow door that lead to the staff area for a much needed half hour break.

***

"Hi." Charlie smiled at the slightly butch but sweet looking woman behind the bar.

"Hi yourself," the barmaid replied, displaying a cute set of dimples as she grinned at Charlie. 'WOW' was the only conscious thought running through Jamie's head as the most stunning blue eyes looked at her questioningly.

"Do you know if Helen is here?" Charlie asked tentatively.

"I assume you mean Nikki's Helen?" Jamie stated. "She is out back, I'll give her a call for you."

"Thanks," Charlie replied, relieved that Helen was here and that she didn't have to keep herself occupied for long.

Jamie hung up the phone and turned back to the jaw droppingly fit woman. "Helen will be right out. Can I get you a drink while you're waiting?"

"Thanks and yes please, can I have a bottle of beer?"

Charlie took a couple of rapid swigs before mustering up the courage to look around the bar again. This time, however, she felt slightly more comfortable. It was not that bad after all she thought, taking another couple of mouthfuls of beer. Curiously, she watched some of the women chatting in pairs when suddenly the lights on the table flickered and one half of each couple stood and moved to the next table. 'What?' Charlie thought to herself. "Oh my god," she said out loud then quickly clapped her hand over her mouth. 'Speed dating! I am in a bar full of not just lesbians but single ones...I'm so going to kill Helen!' For some reason this made her cheeks flush hot again, but she didn't really understand why.

"Hiya Charlie." Helen greeted Charlie with a warm welcoming smile. "I see Jamie has been good and got you a drink already," she said, nodding her head towards the half drunk bottle of beer Charlie was clutching very tightly.

"Oh yes, thanks Helen, can I get you one?" Charlie smiled nervously.

"Thanks, Jamie can you get me a vodka and orange please," Helen asked Jamie directly.

***

Joey groaned as she sat down on the chair with her cup of instant coffee, relieved to be resting her tired legs for a bit. She had fifteen minutes left until she was due back upstairs. Joey smiled to herself, debating whether she should pay Jamie back for being so late and stay down here a bit longer, knowing full well the speed dating was due to finish soon and the bar would be descended on by thirsty women. Chuckling, no, Joey decided perhaps that was not a good idea, a group of single women baying for Jamie's attention would be her idea of heaven, even if they just wanted to be first to get a drink. To make the most of her remaining fourteen minutes she put her feet up on the chair opposite and closed her eyes for a moment.

***

Helen took the drink Jamie had made her, and another bottle of beer that Charlie looked like she could do with, from the bar and walked over to the table she suggested they move to, determined to find out what made this woman tick.


	4. Chapter 4

_Once again thank you so much for taking the time to read and review this story. Sorry for taking a while to update but a pesky thing called work has got in the way over last few weeks! Thank you also to the gorgeous Bimbo for checking the story for me again and again as I keep changing things._

_Miss BTW x_

Chapter 4

**I see you**

Helen watched Charlie for a moment, she had nearly stripped the whole label from the beer bottle and the tiny shredded bits of paper were neatly piled on the table. Charlie looked nervous. But what was interesting Helen decided, was that whilst Charlie paid no attention to the men at work, she was very aware of the women in the bar, and a fair few of them were most definitely paying attention to Charlie.

"So Charlie," Helen started to question. "Did you leave anyone special behind in Australia?"

"Errr......" 'What am I supposed to say?' Charlie thought. Although Charlie didn't know Helen that well, she still had an overwhelming urge to tell her all about the only real 'special person' that had been in her life...... well until she messed it up that is.

"Well, there's Rubes, my daughter," Charlie stated with the voice in her head telling her, 'What a copout Buckton!' That was not the question you were asked.

"Wow Charlie, a daughter, you must miss her," Helen was slightly confused she was sure Charlie was only thirty, so how old was her daughter?

Charlie could see Helen's mind doing the maths, 'Looks like I am going to be fessing up more than I expected already.' With that Charlie went on to recount the events that still hurt her desperately but gave her one of the greatest gifts.

"And wow again, Charlie," said Helen, shocked, not only by the revelation and the obviously traumatic past Charlie had, but also by her sudden willingness to be so open, something she had most definitely not been at work.

"I am sorry," Charlie said, suddenly worried she had said too much, after all she didn't know Helen well and had just confessed something it had taken her years to come to terms with. Perhaps, she thought, I am finally beginning to realise that I need to be more open with people and if I had come to understand and practice that sooner Joey wouldn't have left.

"Oh please don't be sorry Charlie, I am really pleased you feel you can talk to me," Helen touched Charlie's arm to try and reassure her. Helen was also curious to understand what Charlie was not yet telling her. For a moment, Helen got the sense that Charlie had missed something quite significant from her story and from the look she just had on her face it was a story that was not yet finished.

"Would you like another drink?" Helen asked.

"Yes please," Charlie replied realising she had consumed two beers in under thirty minutes, best drink this one a bit more slowly, she chastised herself or Helen may have to carry her out or, even worse, she would start getting melancholy about a certain person.

With that Helen headed to the bar.

***

Joey put her rinsed mug upside down on the drainer and headed out of the staff room ready to face an evening of Jamie's teasing and drink pouring. 'Oh what a glamorous and exciting life I lead,' she thought as she closed the door behind her.

***

Helen put the drinks on the table and sat back down.

"How long have you and Nikki been together?" Charlie asked, time to take the heat off me for a while Charlie decided, Helen was just too good at getting information out of people. Something Charlie admired when they were at work.

"Ten years, although we only went through the Civil Partnership last year." Helen smiled warmly, remembering how nervous Nikki had been. "Despite all her bravado, Nikki's hands shook when she proposed," Helen chuckled. "Nikki would kill me if she knew I had just told you that."

Charlie laughed. The other thing Helen was good at was making people feel at ease.

"Well then Charlie, what about your love life, anyone special?" Helen smirked at the now slightly uncomfortable looking Charlie.

Damn, Charlie thought, I walked straight into that one didn't I. "Well, no not at the moment," Charlie replied in a somewhat lacklustre tone.

"No one back home then?" Helen decided she was not going to give up that easily.

"Well I was seeing another officer, Angelo, but that all ended way before I decided to come over here for a year." Charlie wasn't convinced by her own story, so she was waiting for Helen's follow-up question. Perhaps I should tell her about Joey, Helen would understand.

"Oh, I am sorry that didn't work out Charlie, I hope I'm not out of line here, but you don't sound as though you were in love with him?" Helen tentatively replied.

Charlie smiled at Helen's insight, "No I guess I didn't really love him, he was kind of a rebound relationship and if I'm brutally honest, I used him a bit to avoid being alone, something else I am not very good at."

"None of us like being alone Charlie." Helen again put a reassuring hand on Charlie's arm. "Nikki and I split up once, early in our relationship, and I dated someone from work for a short time, largely for the same reason you did. And Nikki was not at all happy about it. So we have something in common there." Helen smiled then picked up her drink and took a small mouthful.

More in common than you think, Charlie thought then laughed out loud, Helen looked at Charlie with a confused expression. "And what is amusing you Constable Buckton?"

"I'm sorry Helen, I was just thinking that we do have a lot in common and for some reason it made me laugh. And I don't know if it's just the beer or a mixture of the beer and me realising I have always made a right royal mess of my personal life." Charlie decided at that moment she wanted to tell Helen.

"There was someone, before Angelo. Well, not someone, the one, her name was Joey." Charlie felt her cheeks go red at the confession, but at the same time she felt a sense of relief.

Charlie was also kind of enjoying the surprised look on Helen's face, although what Charlie didn't realise was Helen was not surprised by the confession itself but at how easily she had got the info out of Charlie. 'Wait a minute, Joey? Did Charlie just Joey, surely not the same one who works behind this very bar and had her heart broken by a police woman back home, no!' Charlie continued, "I met Joey in my home town, Summer Bay, and I was drawn to her the minute I met her."

As Charlie continued, the shocked expression remained on Helen's face, 'Shit shit shit,' Helen shouted in her head. This is the Charlie, the one who cheated on their Joey! The one Joey had cried on her shoulder about. Oh my god, where is Joey now? Helen quickly looked around the bar, she is not here at the moment, but she will be any second. Helen's head spun back round when she realised Charlie had stopped speaking.

"Is something wrong Helen?"

***

Joey headed back up the stairs to the main bar. When she reached the top, she stopped dead in her tracks shocked to see a familiar face.

"Anne?" Joey said in the absence of anything else to say and very much taken aback by seeing her outside of the coffee shop.

"Hi Joey." Anne didn't look quite as surprised to see Joey having seen her behind the bar earlier.

"What are you doing here?" Joey recovered slightly then realised it was probably a slightly stupid question.

"Well, looking for a girlfriend," the petite blond replied trying not to laugh at both the confused look on Joey's face and the slightly obvious question, given she had a label stuck to her top with her name on it. 'I guess Joey is used to seeing me like this at work,' she thought.

"Sorry Anne that was a bit of a daft question wasn't it?" a slightly embarrassed Joey replied.

"No, don't worry about it, although you do look a bit surprised to see me?" Anne said as she stepped closer to Joey to move out of the way as someone walked behind her.

"Hmmm.... well yes I guess I am a bit surprised. I have worked here for a while and never seen you in here before. And of course I see you almost daily at the coffee shop and never realised you were.."

"A lesbian?" Anne finished Joey's sentence for her.

Joey laughed, "Yes, I just didn't think....... I mean we have talked a few times at the coffee shop but not really about ourselves, if you get what I mean."

"Yes, I know what you mean, however I have kind of wondered about you." Anne looked directly at Joey, trying to gauge her reaction.

Joey was slightly taken aback that Anne was flirting with her. Not that she didn't like it, she just didn't know how to react. So, if in doubt, Joey thought, run.

"Err... I have to get back to work," Joey said quickly as she started to step away.

***

"Charlie, this is going to seem really strange but you need to come with me right now," Helen pleaded.

"What... is something wrong Helen?" Charlie repeated, confused by Helen's behaviour.

"No, no of course not, but honestly you need to come with me right now, I will explain what is going on but please just come with me," Helen pleaded again then took direct action and grabbed Charlie's arm as she stood almost pulling her from her seat. Charlie followed Helen, in shock if nothing else. Helen was behaving in a very bizarre manner and Charlie was more than a little unimpressed, and quite frankly pissed off, by this and Helen's reaction to her revelation about Joey. It had taken a lot to tell Helen about Joey and this is the reaction she gets, Helen looking very nervous and pretty much dragging her out the bar.

***

Anne reached out to touch Joey's arm as she began to back away, "I didn't mean to scare you Joey, I just like you that's all."

"Oh ok." Joey felt slightly scared, whilst many women had come on to her since she started working here, flirting with them had been easy, after all it had meant nothing. This however, felt different, but she didn't really know why. Perhaps it's because I know her, Joey reasoned with herself. Or perhaps it's because I am reacting to it, something Joey did not want to admit to. At that moment, Charlie jumped into Joey's thoughts and then guilt took over.

"I really have to get back to work or my boss will be after me, perhaps we can talk later?" Joey offered.

"Sure, I would like that." Anne withdrew her arm and Joey turned and walked way.

***

Nikki looked up in surprise as the door to her office swung open and Helen flew in dragging an annoyed looking woman, who she assumed was Helen's friend from work Charlie, behind her. Shutting the door quickly Helen turned to face Charlie.

"Charlie, this is Nikki." Helen introduced them whilst trying to work out what she was going to say.

"Hi Charlie, nice to meet you." Nikki stood offering her hand to Charlie. Charlie took the offered hand and smiled, "Nice to meet you Nikki, Helen has told me a lot about you".

With the formalities out of the way, Charlie turned to Helen again, "Now Helen will you please tell me what the hell is going on?"

Helen looked at Nikki, who offered no help at all. "Yes Helen, do tell us what is going on," Nikki joined in.

"Well, Charlie I err......"

"Joey!" Charlie gasped looking over Helen's shoulder. Helen turned to see what she already knew Charlie was looking at, she had forgotten about the CCTV. And there, in glorious black and white, stood Joey pouring a drink.

"Shit," Helen said out loud, as Charlie just stared at the monitor. "It's Joey," Charlie whispered, then turned and ran to the door.


End file.
